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Tag: NPP

  • All banks in Ghana should give me their money to develop Agric Sector – Dr Afriyie Akoto

    All banks in Ghana should give me their money to develop Agric Sector – Dr Afriyie Akoto

    Former Agric Minister and NPP flagbearer hopeful, Dr Afriyie Akoto, has called on banks for financial support in his quest to transform the country through Agriculture, if given the nod as the President of the Republic.

    He believes the banks can entrust him with their financial resources given his achievements in the Agricultural sector during his tenure as the sector Minister.

    Addressing a gathering at the University of Professional Studies, Accra on March 13, 2023, during the launch of his campaign to contest in the upcoming New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential primaries, he mentioned that: “The government made significant Investment in farm inputs in order to increase agricultural productivity to raise, incomes of farmers, and to achieve national food security. The Ministry procured and distributed 1.4 million MT of fertilizer and 93,192 MT of improved seeds which were distributed to over 1.7 million farmers from 2017 to 2021.

    “As a result of these measures, Maize yields increased from 1.8mt/ha to 3.0mt/ha; Rice yield increased from 2.7mt/ha to 4.0mt/ha and Soya yield increased from 1Mt/ha to 2.5Mt/ha, in the period from 2017 to 2021. With Planting For Food and Jobs (PFJ) intervention, production of maize has risen from 1.7 million MT in 2016 to 3.6 million MT in 2021, Rice from 688,000MT to 1.2 million MT, and soya from 143,000MT to 230,000MT over the same period,” he added.

    While acknowledging that there is a lot of room for improvement in the PFJ, the Minister noted that the “stories that I have shared provide some evidence that the implementation of the program has been a resounding success.”

    “As indicated earlier Government expenditure on improved seeds and fertilizers amounted to 2.6 billion Ghana Cedis in the period 2017-2021. To optimize the gains from such investments, we must further invest in the education of farmers, wherever they are in the country,” he noted further.

    Touting these achievements and more, he concluded that “all banks should be giving him money to develop the sector.”

    Dr Akoto’s highly centered on developing the country through Agriculture. During the campaign launch, he expressed the optimism that the agric sector will take Ghana out of its economic woes.

    Speaking at the launch of his flagbearership campaign at the  University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) said “I strongly believe Agriculture will lift Ghana out of poverty.”

    According to him, the sector will as well “assure us not only food and nutrition security but also generate the necessary resources for the development of the other sectors including industry, health, education and infrastructural medium to long term.”

  • NDC cannot take credit for Pokuase Interchange – Deputy Roads Minister

    NDC cannot take credit for Pokuase Interchange – Deputy Roads Minister

    Deputy Roads and Highways Minister, Stephen Pambiin Jalulah has stated that the Pokuase Interchange was constructed by the ruling New Patriotic Party, hence the National Democratic Congress (NDC) cannot take credit for it.

    It was only a “dream” for the NDC government, even if it secured funding for the Pokuase Interchange.

    According to Jalulah, the NDC after securing the funding for the project they did not negotiate to get workers on the ground nor start any construction works and it cannot be right that they seek to take credit for what they did not do.

    The works, Mr Jalulah noted, was done when the NPP came into power. “It’s one thing to dream and it’s another thing for the dream to be actualised,”

    “You go to tell a lender that give me money to do a road and they say okay I’ll give you the money, then you go to parliament, parliament approves, that said, you are supposed to negotiate with the lender then you negotiate with the contractor to come and build the road for you,” he said.

    Speaking on The Probe with Blessed Sogah, the Deputy Minister who doubles as the Member of Parliament for Pru West Constituency in the Bono East region indicated that a government can only take credit for a project they initiated and completed.

    “Any government that executes any project should take credit for it, in this case, they never did anything,” he indicated.

    He hinted that there is another project underway but which not materialise in the tenure of the current President, therefore if another President comes into power to actually build and finish it, President Akufo-Addo who initiated it cannot claim credit for it.

    “We’re doing one currently but it will not materialise under the leadership of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo but the next government which hopefully will be Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia,”

    “Now Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cannot claim credit for what he’s doing now for an interchange to be built in another city of the country,” he stated.

    Mr. Jalulah also disclosed that seven more interchanges will be completed by 2024.

    “And as I told you we are having so many of this happening, on the Akosombo road we’re having two interchanges, Ofankor we’re having about four,”

    “Even the most talked about Accra-Tema Motorway, this year hopefully it will come on stream and we’re having about four interchanges on that road,” the MP hinted.

  • I am not arrogant – Dr Afriyie Akoto

    I am not arrogant – Dr Afriyie Akoto

    Contrary to perceptions that he is an “arrogant” person, the former Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Afriyie Akoto, has indicated that he is a very affable person.

    Speaking at his campaign launch on Monday, March 13, 2023, at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) auditorium, he noted that he is a very confident person who has strong views on various subjects and is often perceived as being arrogant due to these qualities.

    “I’m known to be ‘confident, very passionate and to have strong views on many subjects.’ Frequently I’ve often been perceived as too serious and arrogant but that is far from the reality. In fact, I’m a very friendly person, very open-hearted and an affable person,” he said.

    The former Minister has on various occasions been described as arrogant. Former chairman of the Ghana National Poultry Farmers Association, Kwadwo Asante, earlier this month, labelled the Minister as arrogant and disrespectful.

    During an interaction with Kumasi-based Oyerepa FM, Mr Asante recounted how the Agriculture Minister allegedly disrespected them when they met him and President, Akufo-Addo at a meeting.

    He said the poultry farmers met President Akufo-Addo in Jubilee House years ago and told him there was a shortage of maize. But instead of the Minister admitting the claim and working to address the issue, he retorted with a claim that “there is an abundance of maize.”

    That aside, Mr Asante indicated that he later approached him (Akoto) and his special aide and told them how foreigners (Nigerians) were exporting the maize produced by Planting for Food and Jobs. But the Minister could only respond with “so what?”

    Also, some Ghanaians described him as arrogant following his posture and approach to some of the questions thrown at him by Members of Parliament’s Vetting Committee, among other instances.

    Despite these instances the Minister insists he is only confident but not arrogant. He further pledged his commitment to earnestly serve the country.

    “My father instilled in him the passion for service and to serve my motherland Ghana with all that is within me even if it costs me an arm and a leg for those who know me well,” he added.

  • Livestream: Dr Afriyie Akoto launches presidential campaign

    Former Agric Minister, Dr Akoto Afriyie, is launching his presidential campaign at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).

    Dr Afriyie hopes to run on the ticket of the ruling New Patriotic Party in the 2024 general election.

    He is talking about the future of the economy.

    Source: The Independent Ghana

  • I have not been dormant with my campaign – Afriyie Akoto

    I have not been dormant with my campaign – Afriyie Akoto

    Former Food and Agriculture Minister Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has stated that he has been quietly campaigning after retirement.

    He claims to have toured the entire country in order to rally New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates ahead of the party’s primaries.

    Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has announced his intention to lead the NPP in the 2024 election.

    He told journalists that he is waiting for the party to officially announce a date for the primaries before launching his campaign.

    “I have been running around the country now for six years. Every year except 2020 that COVID prevented me, I had been going around the country as the Minister for Agriculture because I have been waiting for the party to come out with a date for the primaries, and then I will draw up my programme accordingly. It doesn’t mean, my supporters are asleep. They are very active in all the 16 regions.”

    Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto officially resigned to focus on his Presidential ambition as he wants to lead the New Patriotic Party (NPP) into the 2024 general elections.

    He served as a Member of Parliament for the Kwadaso Constituency in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region for two terms.

    In Parliament, he held the position of Deputy Ranking Member and subsequently the substantive Ranking Member for the Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs until 2017 when he was appointed the Minister for Food and Agriculture.

    In November 2022, in the midst of economic challenges and rising food prices, Dr Afriyie Akoto implemented the controversial Planting for Food and Jobs policy at the premises of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to sell cheaper foods to Ghanaians.

  • Joe Wise warns Ghanaians against voting for another hung Parliament

    Joe Wise warns Ghanaians against voting for another hung Parliament

    The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has cautioned Ghanaians against voting for another hung Parliament in the future.

    According to the Bekwai MP, the situation has impeded the work of the House.

    He wants Ghanaians to vote massively for either the NPP or NDC in the 2024 general elections to give one political party an overwhelming majority in the House.

    According to him, the seventh Parliament, for instance, passed over 100 laws but the current Parliament which is in its third year has passed less than 10 laws.

    The First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei-Owusu, has urged Ghanaians never to vote for another hung Parliament in the future.

    The Bekwai MP believes the situation has made the current legislature less efficient as compared to the seventh Parliament.

    He wants Ghanaians to vote massively for either the NPP or NDC in the 2024 general elections to give one political party an overwhelming majority in the House.

    According to him, the seventh Parliament, for instance, passed over 100 laws but the current Parliament which is in its third year has passed less than 10 laws.

    Citing the approval of ministerial nominees and nominees to the Supreme Court as an example, he stated that there is less cooperation and the Minority tends to oppose almost all government’s decisions irrespective of the substance of the issues.

    Speaking exclusively to Citi News, he stated that the lack of effective collaboration in Parliament is adversely affecting governance in the country.

    “It is affecting governance generally. I am saying that next time Ghanaians should vote more. If they want the NPP to be the Majority, they should give them more votes. If you want NDC to be the majority give them more votes. This one is affecting governance very badly.

    “The seventh Parliament, probably because of the numbers, passed the highest number of laws since 1993, we passed over 100 laws. This Parliament is our third year, but I doubt we have passed even 10 laws. The level of cooperation that I saw is no longer there.”

  • Why can’t passport be used to register voters? – Ken Agyapong questions EC

    Why can’t passport be used to register voters? – Ken Agyapong questions EC

    Assin Central Member of Parliament, Kennedy Agyapong has expressed surprise at a proposed Constitutional Instrument (CI) seeking to make the Ghana Card the sole Identification document for registration of new voters.

    The CI, proposed by the Electoral Commission is currently before Parliament with strong opposition from the Minority Caucus with strong support from the other side. 

    Agyapong, who is particularly concerned with the decision to strike out the passport as a proof of citizenship, made his views known on the matter in an interview he granted Sompa FM in Kumasi late last week. 

    “For Americans, even Ghanaians who have naturalized, they are so proud to hold an American passport. Ghana has people taking bogus decisions and I wonder those who sit there and take such decisions. 

    “That a whole Ghana passport, you claim that to register to vote, we won’t allow use of the Ghana passport, we have lost our identity to National Identification, what?” he lamented. 

    He reiterated his strict opposition to the CI asking, “what makes me know I am a Ghanaian? It is my passport.”

    He also rejected the EC’s explanation that a lot of non-Ghanaians are holding the Ghanaian passport, “same is the case with these Ghana Cards,” he challenged. 

    The CI aims to amend the current law to make Ghana Card, the sole proof of identification for registration of new voters, removing the existing options of the use of passports and the guarantor system.

  • My wife can’t be First Lady; she’s corrupt- Ken Agyapong

    My wife can’t be First Lady; she’s corrupt- Ken Agyapong

    Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong, has accused his wife of being corrupt.

    Stella Wilson Agyapong, the wife of famous politician and presidential hopeful, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong incurred his wrath in her attempt to shield a supposedly corrupt health worker who exploited a woman at a government hospital. 

    On the account of the Assin Central Member of Parliament, a woman he had met at a public place walked up to him to narrate how a corrupt nurse was pocketing money at a hospital in Ghana. 

    “A woman I meet detailed how a nurse who was attending to her friend’s daughter wrote a wrong receipt for her and how she took her on for writing a receipt of GH¢40 when she had paid GH¢250 at the hospital…my wife who was there with me and knowing me very well urged the woman not to mention the name of the hospital to me, that is why I say she’s corrupt. I would have easily called out the hospital in today’s interview in Kumasi,” he disclosed on Sompa TV.  

    The MP who called his wife corrupt also announced that he will be quick to sack her if she carries the same attitude during his time as president of Ghana. 

    “She is corrupt, she used to be very principle when she returned to Ghana from the United States…do you know why my wife is corrupt?…how do you change the nation with this. You want to be First Lady, I will sack you without hesitation with this attitude…was that her attitude when she living abroad?” he quizzed.  


    According to Kennedy Agyapong, his beloved wife who spent years working abroad should have known better by not standing in his way especially when he had plans of naming and shaming the culprit to serve as a warning to others. 

  • I was hounded out of office so galamsey could continue – Prof Frimpong-Boateng

    I was hounded out of office so galamsey could continue – Prof Frimpong-Boateng


    A former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has disclosed why he was ousted from office.

    According to the Professor who also chaired the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), elements within both the governing New Patriotic Party and the Akufo-Addo government, conspired in a grand scheme to hound him out of office to pave the way for their free participation in illegal mining (galamsey).

    In February 2020 while still in office, Prof Frimpong-Boateng disclosed that some of the 500 excavators allegedly seized by the IMCIM had gone missing. 

    In an interview with Accra-based Joy FM, Prof Frimpong-Boateng said: “We were told that 500 [excavators] had been seized and given to the district assemblies but later on, when we went out to check, the figure was far less than that”. 

    Asked about the exact figures, Prof Frimpong-Boateng answered: “I cannot tell you exactly what but I can tell you it was far lower than the 500 put out”. 

    He, however, noted that the earthmoving equipment that went missing, were in the custody of the district assemblies. 

    “That was the case in most of the areas, so, we sent people out there to talk to the district assemblies and we got Vanguard involved and most of them had disappeared”, Prof Frimpong-Boateng said.

    In a recent interview with state broadcaster GTV, however, Prof Frimpong-Boateng said the missing excavator story was trumped up against him by his own party and other government officials involved in galamsey, just to get him out. 

    “No 500 excavators got missing. Who said that? It was thrown into the media space to tag something on Frimpong-Boageng”, he said. 

    “What am I doing with 500 excavators?” he wondered.
    Explaining what happened, from his point of view, the famed heart surgeon said: “The true story is that, at the start of the Operation Vanguard thing, the soldiers were supposed to arrest the excavators and they go into the forest where they are doing the mining and they remove control board”. 

    “So, if they remove 20 control boards today, they will report that they have immobilised 20 control boards”, he noted, adding: “But then, when you go away, they will bring new control boards and fix them and then off they go”. 

    “So, we got the report that they have immobilised over 750-something excavators. So, we appointed somebody to go round and check. When we went round, I think we got about 150 [or] 200 that we could see”. 

    “The rest had either been given to their owners or they put in some extra parts and moved them away”, he pointed out.

    “And, then somebody put it out there that Frimpong-Boateng has taken 500 excavators. What am I going to do with it?” he asked. 

    “It was an orchestrated scheme even within the party and government to get me out”, Prof Frimpong-Boateng alleged, pointing out: “Why is it that when I left, now everybody is in the forest?” 

    “At that time, you dare not enter the forest. But, as I said, I don’t what to go into details now because I have a lot to say on that. But let me tell you that I did not take one excavator for anything. And, they know the truth”, he added. 

    He said: “Now, things are coming out: We know those who are behind it and the party people who are there, people in government, including Jubilee House who are doing galamsey and so on even now. So, let Frimpong-Boateng be in is corner to enjoy his retirement”.

  • Ato Forson sends another reminder to Akufo-Addo to reduce size of govt

    Ato Forson sends another reminder to Akufo-Addo to reduce size of govt

    Minority Leader in Parliament Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson has sent another reminder to President Akufo-Addo over the size of his government.

    He says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has refused to cut down both government size and public expenditure despite the current economic challenges the country faces amidst defaulting in its debt repayment since January 2022.

    “Ghana has officially defaulted in the repayment of our debt since January 2022 yet Mr. President your government is failing to cut down the size of government and public expenditure”, Hon Cassiel Ato Forson who is also MP for the Ajumako Enyan Esiam Constituency told the president in Parliament yesterday after the President presented his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

    Dr. Ato Forson also accused the President of allowing the Bank of Ghana to print GHC 54 billion in less than two years which according to him is the reason why the country is witnessing hyperinflation.

    “Ghana is witnessing hyperinflation largely because your government allowed the Bank of Ghana to print GHC 50 billion for the year 2022 and another GHC 4 billion in the 2023 first quarter”, Hon Ato Forson revealed in Parliament.

    Backing his series of accusations on the President, the Minority Leader added “our position is that, inflation is currently rising monetary policy rate is also at 28% Ghana Cedi has depreciated by 20% in January alone, Mr President, unemployment is exceedingly high at the record levels and as we speak Mr President, lending rate is at 40%.”

  • Ken Agyapong threatens to collapse NPP

    Ken Agyapong threatens to collapse NPP

    Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong, has threatened to sabotage the New Patriotic Party (NPP) by spilling its secrets if the government dares to collapse his companies.

    In an interview with Sompa FM, The NPP presidential aspirant hopeful claimed that his party is plotting to collapse his companies.

    He sounded a word of caution to the party if the persons deployed to cripple his companies are not withdrawn, he will embark on activities that will also kill the party.

    “You are going there because Kwame Agyapong is a loudmouth. You want to collapse my companies because I want to contest. I’m being nice and charitable to the NPP but they shouldn’t dare me. Anybody who tries to kill my companies because I’m contesting for elections, I will kill the party.

    “The things I know and will say will kill the company. I’ve gone through a lot from January till date but I’ve been very nice. If you want to collapse my company because of one person then I will also kill the company. I’m not afraid of anyone,” he fumed.

    Kennedy Agyapong is hoping to lead the NPP into the 2024 election with a campaign to instill discipline and fight corruption.

    The New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer hopeful weighed in on the recently published Auditor-general’s report that pointed to fraud and impropriety in spending of COVID-19 funds.

    “The performance of NPP during the COVID, I am not holding brief, we have made some mistakes that we all have to accept and I will be the first person to accept,” he said on Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana program earlier this week.

    “But if you compare the two governments, Akufo-Addo and Mahama, Mahama is not an alternative to Ghana because the man has been fortunate to succeed Atta Mills for two years,” he stated stressing that he has no justification to seek a final term in office.

    When pushed by host Paul Adom-Otchere about Mahama’s claim that the NPP was corrupt, Agyapong responded: “NPP is corrupt, NDC is corrupt, that is why you have Kennedy Agyapong coming in.”

    When he was reminded that he was an NPP man, he replied: “I am a disciplined NPP (member).”

  • Ashaiman-military brutality: NPP’s Ama Daaku accuses Ghanaians of being hypocrites

    Ashaiman-military brutality: NPP’s Ama Daaku accuses Ghanaians of being hypocrites

    Ellen Ama Daaku, a member of the New Patriotic Party’s national communication team and a past candidate for women’s organizer, has criticized Ghanaians, calling them hypocrites.

    She made her claim while responding to the recent military brutality that took place in Ashaiman this week.

    Ghanaians awoke to news and tales of a dead military soldier in Ashaiman, which eventually sparked a large military swoop into the nearby towns and countryside.

    Almost one hundred men were detained during the raid, which was an effort to round up potential murder suspects.

    The swoop sparked a great deal of debate among many aspects of the nation among political and security analysts and professionals.

    The outspoken NPP communicator, Madam Daaku, responded to the demands for reparations made by former President Mahama and former and present Members of Parliament for the Ashaiman constituency by saying Ghanaians are too hypocritical.

    According to her, parents and community leaders in Ashaiman are aware of the negative traits of the local youngsters but have long remained quiet about them. Now, however, they are protesting and demanding redress.

    She continued by saying that Ashaiman hasn’t had a good reputation in Ghanaian news outlets for a very long time, but different community leaders have done nothing or very little to change that.

    According to her, when it comes to issues concerning safety and security in Ghana, there are places tagged as flashpoints, Kasoa Budumburam and Ashaiman are not exempt from these flashpoints.

    She added that the inability of parents and leaders in our communities to curb bad traits among the youth is what has led to the death and swoop in Ashaiman.

    Source: The Independent Ghana

  • Political analyst opposes Alan Kyerematen’s presidential campaign

    Political analyst opposes Alan Kyerematen’s presidential campaign

    Political analyst Mr. Owusu Ansah is against the idea of former Trade Minister, Alan Kyerematen, becoming President of Ghana one day.

    According to Mr Ansah, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate would not be able to manage an entire economy as he was unable to effectively run a ministry.

    He said that “the one district one factory initiative was a laudable idea, and I expected them to have executed it well, but what do we see? Alan Kyerematen went there and messed things up. Alan is a disgrace to Ghana. He went to the ministry and messed things up. What is the state of the sugar factory now?”

    “To date, the Komenda Sugar Factory has not seen the light of day,” he added.

    On the current economic crisis, he said the NPP has an opportunity to turn things around.

  • NPP must elect Bawumia as flagbearer at all cost – Analyst

    NPP must elect Bawumia as flagbearer at all cost – Analyst

    Political analyst Michael Ebo Amoah has said that the New Patrotic Party (NPP) must elect Vice president, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as its flagbearer for the 2024 general elections.

    According to him, Dr Bawumia is the right candidate since he possesses much experience and strategies in making Ghana a better place.

    Mr. Ebo Amoah was speaking on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm about whether the description of Dr. Bawumia as E-Bawumia when he delivered his state of the nation address was an endorsement.

    ”From where I sit, it would be politically suicidal for the NPP to change Bawumia and bring another person. Just as former President John Dramani Mahama is the most marketed candidate for the NDC, Bawumia is the most marketed candidate for the NPP.

    He indicated that the factors would go against the NPP if Dr. Bawumia is not elected as the presidential candidate.

    “However, in the end, it is up to the delegates to make the final decision. From where I am, the delegates will vote for him. This is not based on any scientific research, but the delegates will choose Dr. Bawumia as the presidential candidate.”

  • Mahama has no reasons for boycotting 6th March parade – NPP

    Mahama has no reasons for boycotting 6th March parade – NPP

    Former President John Dramani Mahama, according to the New Patriotic Party (NPP), is merely inventing justifications for his absence from Monday’s Independence Day celebrations.

    Ghana celebrated its 66th Independence Anniversary in Adaklu in the Volta Region on March 6, 2023.

    The former President accused the NPP of turning the celebrations into a jamboree and also accused the party of busing its supporters to the venue for the celebration.

    He added that he had been ridiculed by supporters of the NPP as he was seated in an obscure place on some occasions, hence his decision to boycott such events since 2018.

    Reacting to the former President’s comment, the Director of Communications for the NPP, Richard Ahiagbah said the reasons given by John Mahama are unfathomable. 

    “The former President is justifying all excuses to explain why he didn’t show up at the celebration of the Independence Day in the Volta Region and the previous ones he failed to attend. It’s most unfortunate because he’s only interested in going to the Volta region for votes. Just recently, you went there to launch your campaign. The people of Volta Region haven’t had the opportunity to host Independence Day before. He just left there a few days ago, if nothing at all, for the people of Volta Region whose chiefs and elders were assembled to celebrate, he could have showed up,” Mr. Ahiagbah. 

  • Ghana is now on autopilot – CPP

    Ghana is now on autopilot – CPP

    The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), according to the Convention People’s Party (CPP), has no strategy in place to modernize and advance the nation.

    In its message to mark Ghana’s 66th independence anniversary, the party noted that the Nana-led administration had put the country on autopilot.

    “Today, Ghana under the NPP Government has no Plan in place to develop this nation, they have put the Country on ‘Auto Pilot’ and only use Adhoc measures as and when they deem fit.

    Today Ghana has run to the IMF for an economic bailout, there is an IMF supervisor at the Bank of Ghana to give us instructions on our fiscal instructions, we are being asked by the IMF to reduce our debt and unfortunately, Ghanaians are bearing the brunt of this exercise under a strange and Alien Scheme called the Domestic Debt Exchange Program (DDEP).”

    It said the country cannot honour its financial obligations to contractors.

    It averred that there is nothing to celebrate this year and asked Ghanaians to boycott the celebration.

    “As a Country, we cannot even honour our financial obligations to local and domestic contractors, vendors, suppliers, interest payments on loans taken, etc., so what are we celebrating, there is nothing to celebrate because we in the CPP believe that we have been made economic captives, who are reeling under the subjugation of poverty and Economic control.

    We should come together as a country to boycott the Independence Day Celebrations because the Akufo Addo-led NPP government’s actions have eroded the meaning of what Ghana Independence Day stands for. This is the time for a sober reflection towards getting some solutions to our problems as a nation.

    Indeed, the Nana Akufo Addo Government has made the toil of our fathers very meaningless, as we ask Ghanaians to boycott the Celebrations, we are urging all comrades in the CPP to do same as solidarity with the people of Ghana.

    It is laughable that a Government that has been touting a ‘Ghana Beyond AID’ is the one chasing the IMF for Economic Bail Out. It is also sad that a government in dire need of financial support is not ready to downsize government and reduce expenditure. We should with all our strength and might boycott the Independence Day Celebrations.

    The CPP is asking if is it worth it for the Nana Akufo Addo government to use the taxpayer’s money to remunerate cronies, family members and political hangers-on sitting on Government payroll.

    It has become obvious that the CPP is the only Party that has the blueprint to salvage this Nation from this economic quagmire we find ourselves in. When voted for in 2024 we will reshape the destiny of this nation, and showcase a new leadership style of Commitment, Concentration and Selflessness, bringing back the Confidence of the Ghanaian in every sphere of our lives.”

  • I have spent ex-gratia paid me – Mahama on calls for him to refund

    I have spent ex-gratia paid me – Mahama on calls for him to refund

    Former President John Dramani Mahama will be unable to heed to calls for the refund of ex-gratia paid him following his opposition against the payment of such emolument to Article 71 holders.

    According to the former President, he is unable to do so since he has spent the money paid to him by the government as stated by the laws of the country.

    “I have spent the money already and now I am a pensioner, where am I going to get that money to pay back? I am unemployed but they say bring yours to show you have good faith, I have no source of income, and you say I shouldn’t work.

    “They say the president should not hold the office of profits so you gave it to me, I spent it then you come and say  I should refund it, where am I  going to refund it from?”

    He made the comments while speaking at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Professional Forum Dinner and Awards Night in Accra on Sunday, March 5, 2023.

    “I say we will cancel ex gratia, if you will also cancel it say it but why are you insulting me and saying I should refund mine? Will you cancel it or you won’t, tell the people of Ghana but they are saying I should bring mine first.

    “They don’t understand the gravity of the situation. I do think that for those of them who  speak for NPP, don’t understand the gravity of the situation, but is good for our party,” the former statesman added.

    Earlier, Mr Mahama described the comment by private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu to return all the ex gratia paid to him in the past following his promise to cancel it, as silly.

    http://backend.theindependentghana.com/10-things-mahama-promised-to-do-if-re-elected-in-2024/

    Addressing supporters of the NDC in the Volta region on Saturday, March 4, Mr Mahama said “I said categorically that when we come into office we will cancel ex gratia for the executives because the president is in charge of the executive, so he can cancel it for the executives but then you have to persuade the other arms of government to see that there is no fairness in continuing to pay ourselves ex gratia when the ordinary worker does not receive it because you are the leaders, you must show by example. If the economy is in crisis why should we continue to take ex gratia when the rest of the public and civil services don’t take it? So, I said categorically that we will cancel exgratia.

    “And then somebody who should know better, a lawyer, he said, then I should refund all the ex gratia we took before to show Ghanaians that yes, we are serious about cancelling it, he does not even know the principle in our constitution that says that you can’t pass retroactive legislative if you pass legislative today, it does not affect what happened in the past, what he says is a bit silly because it is like saying because we have introduced free SHS all of us should go and get a refund of our school fees that we paid in the past. That is how silly what he is saying is.”

    Mr Martin Kpebu had said it makes sense to ask Mr Mahama to return the ex gratia that he received after indicating that he is going to cancel its payment should he win the next elections as President.

    Speaking on TV3 on Saturday, March 4, Mr Kpebu said “Mahama made money whiles as president so he should look within himself and say look ‘I will return it’. He should return it because, in these national elections, they are going to do, hundreds of millions of dollars, where does it come from? They made money so the exgratia is small. So he should just tell the people ‘I have grown older, I think I have become wiser, I am returning the money,’ That exgratia he should return it

    “You know Dan Kwaku Yeboah of Peace FM, I think he is the lead campaigner for Mr Mahama to return his ex gratia. When I looked at it I said yes it made sense. Mr Mahama should do introspection and return it as a sign of good faith, that once I have returned the money I am committed. Number two, the amendment he should put into writings.”

    Mr Mahama promised that he will scrap ex gratia when he gets the nod to lead this country again.

    “The payment of ex gratia to members of the executive will be scrapped,” Mr Dramani Mahama announced when he launched his bid to be the 2024 Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

    “The necessary constitutional steps to take this will start in earnest in 2025. We will also persuade members of the other arms of government to accept its removal,” he assured.

  • Minority disputes allegations NPP will ‘break the 8’ as a result of Tinubu’s victory

    Minority disputes allegations NPP will ‘break the 8’ as a result of Tinubu’s victory

    The minority in parliament has refuted the claim made by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that if Nigerians kept the APC in office, the party will likewise be kept in power.

    The Deputy Minority leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin was reacting to comments by Deputy Minority Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim that the NDC will be occupying the majority side after the 2024 elections.

    According to Mr. Afenyo-Amarkin, APC candidate, Tinubu has ‘broken the 8’ in Nigeria and thus a similar thing can happen in Ghana.

    However, Member of Parliament for Bodi, Sampson Ahi quickly shredded the claim of the Deputy Majority leader.

    According to him, the APC is rather attempting to break the 16 years of continuous rule of the PDP and not 8 years.

    Mr. Ahi consequently told the NPP to abandon the campaign since the dynamics in Nigeria are totally different.

    “I’ve heard from my colleagues from the other side that in Nigeria they have broken the ‘8’,  and that will reflect in Ghana. Mr. Speaker, I want them to know that in Nigeria they don’t ‘break the 8’ they break 16, it’s 16 years. Because Obasanjo did eight years, Yar’Adua came in and did four years, Goodluck Jonathan did four years all under PDP, that was 16 years.

    “So APC is struggling to break 16 and not eight. So the two scenarios are different. So prepare your handing over notes you will leave office come January 2025. You are leaving office, don’t compare Nigeria to Ghana. There is a vast difference between Ghana and Nigeria,” the lawmaker stated.

  • Mahama is not qualified to lead Ghana once more – NPP’s Ahiagbah

    Mahama is not qualified to lead Ghana once more – NPP’s Ahiagbah

    John Dramani Mahama has been under fire from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), claiming that he is unfit to lead Ghana once more.

    The NPP charged that the former President wrecked the economy during his administration.

    On March 2, 2023, Mr. Mahama announced his candidacy for president at the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho, in the Volta Region, and attacked the Akufo-Addo-led administration for its poor handling of the economy.

    The situation the former President said has led to the majority of Ghanaians fleeing the country in search of greener pastures.

    “With the limited fiscal space, we are likely to inherit because of the mismanagement of the economy under NPP. There are many who say that my words, just before leaving office in 2016, that posterity will be my judge, have proven prophetic in the face of the disastrous performance of the NPP government and their harrowing dismantling of our country’s prospects. This government has been clueless and, in many ways, callous. We are saddled with debt, and we have been downgraded by every rating agency and inflation has gone off the roof, sending people into abject poverty,” Mr. Mahama indicated.

    He added, “it should worry us deeply that the average young Ghanaian would grasp any opportunity to flee the despondent climate under which they live in favour of even the most menial jobs in other countries. We have always had our people going in search of greener pastures abroad, but the current mass exodus of active workers and professionals is profoundly worrying”.

    Responding to this on Eyewitness News, the Communications Director of the NPP, Richard Ahiagbah said the former President cannot reverse the situation if given a second chance to rule the country.

    He rubbished the former President’s claims saying, “people will always sojourn out of this country, when people go, they will come back. If he’s making that as a basis to show that he has the capacity to reverse it, nothing in his records shows that he can. There’s no proof to substantiate what he’s saying”.

    “The statistics show that he has no capacity that he claims he has to make this economy work. He never grew the economy 1 inch when he had the chance to be President. He cannot talk about the economy, he cannot talk about people leaving this country. Now he wants to come again, we have to let him know that we kicked him out, and he’s no longer eligible by his performance”.

    The NPP’s Communications Director said the former President has never managed an economy in a difficult time, hence his assertion.

    “He [Mahama] has never managed an economy in a difficult time before, he has not managed an economy in COVID-19 before. What was the situation under his government?” he asked.

  • Otumfuo entreats NPP to elect a flagbearer with national interest in mind

    Otumfuo entreats NPP to elect a flagbearer with national interest in mind

    Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has urged the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to prioritize the national interest over partisanship when choosing a flagbearer.

    He says the party should make a choice competent enough to serve as President.

    NPP flagbearer aspirant, Francis Addai-Nimoh, in the company of his campaign team and supporters, paid a courtesy call on the Asantehene at the Manhyia Palace.

    The visit was to make clear his intention of contesting NPP’s flagbearership.

    The Asantehene says though the election is internal, it has an impact on the country as a whole.

    He wants aspirants to, therefore, foster peace by running clean campaigns devoid of insults.

    “I am advising you to do a clean campaign ahead of the primaries,” he said.

    He also urged the NPP delegates to choose a candidate that would be accepted by the mass Ghanaians.

    The former Member of Parliament for the Mampong Constituency made his first attempt in NPP’s flagbearer race in 2014.

    He came third among seven contestants in the primaries.

    Mr. Addai-Nimoh was, however, out of the government formed after the party won elections in 2016.

    For the reason, he believes his candidature is needed to win the NPP power in 2024.

    He appealed to party delegates to vote for a new candidate to head the party in order to break the eight.

    According to him, the party requires a fresh face who has not served in the present administration, who is spotless , and who can bring the party together in preparation for the 2024 general elections.

  • Mahama can right NPP’s mess – Kwakye Ofosu

    Mahama can right NPP’s mess – Kwakye Ofosu

    According to Felix Kwakye Ofosu, a former deputy minister of communications and spokesperson for John Mahama’s 2024 presidential campaign, the former president is the best choice to free Ghana from all the issues caused by the National Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.

    Mr. Ofosu said the mismanagement of the Akufo-Addo-led government has derailed Ghana from the course of prosperity and growth that the country was charting before the NPP came into power in 2016.

    “The NPP has destroyed the Ghanaian economy and taken Ghana back to centuries ago, and we must do everything we can to chase them away because of the damage that they have done to this country. We need to get control of the administration and steer the affairs of this country in a manner that gets us out of the mess and reposition us on the trajectory of growth and sheer prosperity for all.”

    Mr. Kwakye Ofosu also admonished Ghanaians saying: “The point is that when the time comes for Ghanaians to choose their leaders, they must examine the performance of the people they kept in charge of their country, and we have all seen what the NPP has done with the power given them, and you don’t even need a soothsayer to tell you that they have caused so much damage to this country.”

    He further intimated that, unlike the NPP which has taken Ghanaians for granted and has caused so much destruction, a Mahama-led government will ensure development is evenly distributed to every part of the country upon assuming office.

    “The party of choice which is the NDC will not take Ghanaians for granted and that is why former president John Dramani Mahama announced his intention and the objective is to demonstrate to the people of Ghana that he has what it takes to rescue the country from the economic mess.”

  • Mahama has nothing to offer again – NPP’s Ahiagbah

    Mahama has nothing to offer again – NPP’s Ahiagbah

    Richard Ahiagbah, Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), says former President John Dramani Mahama has nothing new to offer Ghanaians.

    This comes after President Mahama, during the launch of his campaign in Ho, said he had studied the challenges of the country over the last five years and that he had gathered solutions to the problems of Ghana.

    “Some have lost all hope in the democratic process and believe that democracy is no better than other forms of governance.”

    “Our present state and its effect on the people trouble me a lot, and this is why, as you have observed, at every significant or wrong turn of the decision taken by this government, I have, with the benefits experience I have acquired, provided alternative solutions and even offered the expertise and knowledge of some of my party colleagues to help get us out of these challenges,” Mahama said.

    Reacting to the comments of Mahama in a tweet, Richard Ahiagbah, the Director of Communications for the NPP, said Ghana knows the abysmal performance of Mr Mahama when he was president.

    He insisted that Mr. Mahama failed when he was given the opportunity to lead the country.

    According to the politician, Mahama has been tried, tested, and disapproved.

    “Reselling H.E John Mahama…Ghana knows his dismal record; there is nothing new to add with an expensive campaign launch…Tried, tested and disapproved. #Ghana,” Richard Ahiagbah tweeted.

  • NPP needs me to break the eight – Addai-Nimoh alleges

    NPP needs me to break the eight – Addai-Nimoh alleges

    A prospective New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Francis Addai-Nimoh, has questioned whether any Akufo-Addo cabinet minister can successfully steer the NPP to victory in the 2024 general election.

    He claims that the party requires a “new face” in order to win the general election.

    He made this statement after visiting the Manhyia Palace to declare his intention to run in the NPP presidential primaries.

    There, the Asantehene advised the party to carefully select a candidate who is likely to win power.

    “The mantra of the party now is, we need to break the eight. For the first time, we are ready to set this record in the political discourse of our country. I believe it is possible, it can be achieved. One of the conditions I have outlined about the possibility of this is that the party needs a new face. A new face that is unblemished, a new face that will come with a fresh appeal,” Addai-Nimoh said.

    “A new face that has a natural appeal to unify people, not any anyone with an artificial ability but one that the people resonate with, and a new face that is not part of the current administration. That is what the records show, that if you have a candidate who is part of the outgoing government, you are not likely to win,” the flagbearer hopeful added.

    Addai-Nimoh is on his second attempt, seeking to become the NPP’s presidential candidate for the 2024 general elections.

    “So, I think we need a new face so that is what I have been championing to the grassroots and rank and file of the party that if we are determined, we can set this record by getting a new face and that new face is no other person than Addai-Nimoh.

  • NPP criticizes NDC for opposing EC’s proposed new CI

    NPP criticizes NDC for opposing EC’s proposed new CI

    The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has criticized the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for resisting the new Constitutional Instrument (CI) proposed by the Election Commission (EC).

    The NDC is kicking against the EC’s proposed CI through which it intends to make the Ghana card the sole identification document for voter registration.

    They have argued that the new CI if passed will disenfranchise majority of Ghanaians from registering for voter cards.

    In an interview with Bernard Avle on the Point of View, the Director of Research and Elections of the NPP, Evans Nimako expressed concerns over the NDC’s penchant for challenging measures aimed at sanitising the country’s electoral system.

    Mr. Nimako said he cannot fathom the fears of the NDC if the CI is passed by Parliament.

    “My little worry about the NDC is that anytime there are any arrangements that seek to sanitise the registration exercise of the EC, they tend to disagree. We saw this when the new EC decided to put in place the new voter registration management system. They disagreed to the extent that they went to court and they failed.

    “I’m not saying they shouldn’t challenge or bring alternatives. We have on a number of occasions disagreed with the EC. I don’t see their fears, but the question is, what does the NDC stands to lose if the EC at this point decides that we want to have a CI that will take away this whole issue about the guarantor system that gives us so much trouble,” he said on the Point of View.

    The NPP’s Director of Research and Elections advised the NDC to return to the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) in order to have extensive discussions with the other political parties on the way forward.

    “The NDC should eat their humble pie and come to IPAC so that we can have a discussion there so that we will not take this whole long time to discuss this issue,” he encouraged.

    Mr. Nimako called on Ghanaians especially politicians to support the EC to deliver on its mandate.

    “I think that the EC’s arrangements to have a CI that will allow only those who will want to have their names onto the register to use the Ghana cards must be supported by all,” he urged.

  • Former Kwadaso MP says NPP won 2016, 2020 elections because of Alan’s 1D1F

    Former Kwadaso MP says NPP won 2016, 2020 elections because of Alan’s 1D1F

    Former Member of Parliament for Kwadaso Constituency, Samiu Kwadwo Nuamah, has asserted that the ‘One District, One Factory’ (1D1F) concept put forth by the former Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, was a major factor in the ruling New Patriotic Party’s victories in the 2016 and 2020 national elections.

    Speaking in an interview on Wontumi TV on February 27, 2023, he claimed that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s plan for the free SHS introduction had no influence on the Ghanaian electorate’s decision to vote for the NPP in the 2008 and 2012 elections, but Alan’s One District, One Factory ultimately helped the elephant party win in 2016 and 2020.

    “In 2008, we went for elections with a free SHS message, but we lost. In 2012, we also went with the same free SHS message and still lost.

    “But in 2016, when Alan Kyerematen brought the 1 District, 1 Factory message, what happened? We won the elections. So, if they’ve forgotten, that is what Alan did,” he said.

    He added that Alan Kyerematen has contributed immensely to the development of the country as trade minister, adding that he is ready to offer his support to the former minister to ‘break the eight’ for the party.

    The former minister officially declared his intention to run for president in 2024 on January 10, 2023.

    Addressing the nation on January 10, 2023, days after resigning from the government, Alan Kyerematen thanked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and announced that he would run for the position of flagbearer when the NPP officially opens nominations.

    According to Alan Kyerematen, to ensure economic stability for the country, a new plan ought to be put in place, one he intends to introduce.

    Describing this plan as the Great Transformational Plan (GTP) of Ghana, he said it will span from 2025 to 2030 when given the chance as president.

    He said, “Fellow countrymen and women, let me now provide a brief synopsis of the Great Transformational Plan (GTP). The GTP will be anchored on the following key pillars:

    “A Strong Macroeconomic Environment: The success of the GTP will depend primarily on strong macroeconomic fundamentals, which will include, among other things, a stable currency, low inflation, sustainable debt levels, revenue optimization and tight expenditure control to guarantee fiscal balance, low competitive interest rates, strong external reserves backed by high levels of liquidity to support the financial sector.”

  • NPP will break the 8 because of Tinubu’s victory

    NPP will break the 8 because of Tinubu’s victory

    Popular Ghanaian filmmaker, Prince David Osei has reacted to Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate already leading in the ongoing Nigeria election.

    If Tinubu maintains the lead spot and finally retains power with the ruling party and becomes Nigeria’s next president, the actor said that the same luck will follow NPP in the next election.

    The pro-NPP actor said the party will break the eight-year jinx of governance in the country since both parties have the same political fortune.

    In a tweet on Tuesday, February 28, Prince Osei wrote, “Just thinking ooo , if APC retains power and Tinubu becomes President this means NPP will also retain power!! Dynamics.”

    This comes at a time when provisional results announced by electoral officials in 31 of Nigeria’s 36 states and the federal capital Abuja showed Bola Tinubu, the governing party’s candidate, leading with about 35% of the valid votes counted, while Atiku of the PDP comes right behind with 29%, or nearly 6.2 million valid votes.

    To the surprise of many, Peter Obi, who was tipped by experts to be a potential winner, garnered 25%, or about 5.2 million votes.

  • Greater Accra NDC pledges to support Dr Kwabena Duffuor

    Greater Accra NDC pledges to support Dr Kwabena Duffuor

    The Greater Accra Regional National Democratic Congress (NDC) leadership have given their approval for NDC flag bearer candidate Dr. Kwabena Duffuor to start his national tour in the area.

    This comes after he successfully picked up a flagbearership nomination form to contest the vacant position of the party.

    Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, a former Minister of Finance, and a former Governor of the Bank of Ghana, has expressed optimism about his chances of winning the flagbearer race of party.

    He has also indicated in several interactions that he is the best man to bring Ghana out of its current economic challenges, adding that he once stabilised the economy as minister.

    In lieu of that, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor paid a working visit to the regional executives of the NDC in the Greater Accra Region to announce his intentions to run as flagbearer, and to also seek their blessings to tour the region.

    “Last Thursday, I was so delighted, but at the same time, I was humbled when thousands of our members – grassroots, particularly women, picked up forms and delivered the forms to me, saying that ‘we want you to contest for the flagbearership of the NDC.’

    “It was an honour, but I was humbled. I’ve accepted to contest, that’s why we are here today. Colleagues, ours is a great party; it’s a very big party, bigger than the other groups,” he said.

    In his response, the regional chairman, Nii Ashie Moore, expressed hopes that whoever gets to lead their party will deliver victory for the NDC in 2024.

    He was also excited that the candidate had decided to begin his tour in the Greater Accra Region, adding that a win in that region is a decisive one.

    “You have distinguished yourself to the max. we are one family, this is an internal election. Our target is the NPP. Our target is to maximise the votes of Greater Accra, because we see Greater Accra Region as a decisive region when it comes to politics. When we win Greater Accra, we know we will form the next government.

    “I pray to the Almighty God that all of you who have put up yourself there to lead our political party, to lead our country, at the end of the day, one of you will be made a flagbearer of our party,” he said.

    While wishing Dr. Kwabena Duffuor well, he prayed that at the end of the contest, all the factions in the party will work towards unity.

    Dr. Kwabena Duffuor’s tour of the Greater Accra Region will be the first in a series across the country.

  • 1D1F secured NPP ‘s victory in 2016, 2020 elections – Former Kwadaso MP

    1D1F secured NPP ‘s victory in 2016, 2020 elections – Former Kwadaso MP

    A former member of parliament from the Kwadaso Constituency, Samiu Kwadwo Nuamah, has alleged that the success of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections was largely due to the “One District, One Factory” (1D1F).

    Speaking in an interview on Wontumi TV on February 27, 2023, he claimed that President Akufo-Addo’s plan for the free SHS introduction had no influence on the Ghanaian electorate’s decision to vote for the NPP in the 2008 and 2012 elections, but Alan’s One District, One Factory ultimately helped the elephant party win in 2016 and 2020.

    “In 2008, we went for elections with a free SHS message, but we lost. In 2012, we also went with the same free SHS message and still lost.

    “But in 2016, when Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen brought the 1 District, 1 Factory message, what happened? We won the elections. So, if they’ve forgotten, that is what Alan did,” he said.

    He added that Alan Kyerematen has contributed immensely to the development of the country as trade minister, adding that he is ready to offer his support to the former minister to ‘break the eight’ for the party.

    The former minister officially declared his intention to run for president in 2024 on January 10, 2023.

    Addressing the nation on January 10, 2023, days after resigning from the government, Alan Kyerematen thanked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and announced that he would run for the position of flagbearer when the NPP officially opens nominations.

    According to Alan Kyerematen, to ensure economic stability for the country, a new plan ought to be put in place, one he intends to introduce.

    Describing this plan as the Great Transformational Plan (GTP) of Ghana, he said it will span from 2025 to 2030 when given the chance as president.

    He said, “Fellow countrymen and women, let me now provide a brief synopsis of the Great Transformational Plan (GTP). The GTP will be anchored on the following key pillars:

    “A Strong Macroeconomic Environment: The success of the GTP will depend primarily on strong macroeconomic fundamentals, which will include, among other things, a stable currency, low inflation, sustainable debt levels, revenue optimization and tight expenditure control to guarantee fiscal balance, low competitive interest rates, strong external reserves backed by high levels of liquidity to support the financial sector.”

  • Ministers-designate may be approved by secret ballot – Joe Wise

    Ministers-designate may be approved by secret ballot – Joe Wise

    According to Joseph Osei-Owusu, the chairman of the parliamentary appointments committee, some of the president‘s nominees for ministerial positions may be approved by secret ballot.

    He said the Minority’s refusal to support the approval process at the Committee level will force a secret ballot when the report is presented to the House this week.

    “Our recommendation will be that, the Majority says yes, the Minority says no. If we recommend approval by consensus, then, the decision is taken by voice vote. But when it’s recommended by a majority decision, then the report is adopted by a secret ballot.”

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on February 7, 2023, nominated six members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to replace some outgoing ministers.

    They have subsequently been vetted by the Appointments Committee awaiting approval by Parliament.

    But the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had earlier directed the Minority Caucus in Parliament not to approve the new ministerial nominees.

    NDC described the nominations as insensitive and will affect government spending in the midst of an economic mess created by president Akufo-Addo and his Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

    The NDC in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey said: “the NDC has long expressed concern over the very large size of the current government and shares the views of most Ghanaians, including civil society, that it must be reduced bearing in mind the current massive economic mess the country has been plunged into by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.”

    The party said it has appealed to the government and president Akufo-Addo on numerous occasions to cut down on the number of appointees, but the president has remained adamant.

    It said the option available to the party to attempt to compel the president to cut down the size of his government is to direct members of the party in Parliament to reject the nominees.

  • NDC and NPP welcome new Yagbonwura of Gonjaland

    NDC and NPP welcome new Yagbonwura of Gonjaland

    The Gonjaland has a new Chief. The Paramount Chief for Tuluwe Traditional Area of the Gonja Kingdom, Tuluwe-wura Soale Mbema Borenyi I has been nominated as the new Overlord of Gonja by the Kingmakers of the Yagbon Skin led by Sonyowura Bakari Kanyiti I.

    Both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Savannah Region have congratulated the newly selected Yagbonwura Yiram Amobanefe Borenyi (I) through statements copied to Bole-based Nkilgi FM.

    The NDC said they received the heartening news of the selection of the new Yagbonwura elect, Yiram Amobanefe Borenyi I, in recognition of his status as the new Overlord of the entire Gonja traditional area.

    A statement by the NDC Communication Officer for the Savannah Region RA Jalil said; “on behalf of the NDC, the entire Savanna Region membership and on my behalf, I write to therefore express warm felicitations to you on your attainment of the apex of the Gonja kingship hierarchy.

    He added that “We are especially gratified that your ascension has further proven the resilience of the Gonja Kingdom’s time-tested succession plan, dating back centuries of no interruption”.

    The NDC said; “As stakeholders of the land we want to assure Yiram Nbema Amobanefe Borenyi I of our fullest support, including the respect and non-interference of the Gonja tradition chieftaincy processes, as we have always done to his predecessors”.

    RA Jail said; “The NDC has undoubtedly been proud of its achievements across the breadth and length of the Gonja kingdom, ranging from construction of Schools, hospitals, roads, electrification, human resource development, factories etc. for the uplifting of quality life in Gonjaland and Ghana as a whole. Yiram is therefore rest assured of the continuation of this stands for his Kingdom’s fair share of the national cake when H.E John Dramani Mahama, a son of the soil and also the presumptive flag bearer of the NDC, becomes the President of the Republic of Ghana on 7th January 2025”.

    The NPP on the other hand in a statement signed by the Savannah Regional Secretary Mr Mohammed Issah said; “on behalf of the Regional Chairman, Alhaji Sulemana Iddrisu, the Savannah Regional NPP would like to by this notice officially congratulate the New King and overlord of the Gonja Kingdom-Elect, Jira Tulwewura Soale Mbemah Amonebafi Borenyi I, on his appointment to the greatest throne of the Jakpa Kingdom”.

    The statement added that; “at the behest of the acting King and Head of the Kingdom, Jira Sonyowura Adamu Kanyiti Bakari, together with the Kingmakers announced a new Yagbonwura in Damango as tradition and custom of the land demands”.

    The NPP said; “The entire NPP in the Savannah Region and the Nation congratulates you on this well-deserved appointment. It is the belief of all, that your dedication, selflessness and compassionate leadership alongside the spirit of Ndewura Jakpa, shall lead you in the execution of your duties as the new overlord”.

    The statement from the NPP added that; “The Gonja Kingdom has been the centre of attraction and attention since the death of her Overlord and King a few weeks ago. As documented and practised by the Gonja people historically, succession and transition to the Yagbon skin are admired from far for its unique success and beauty”.

    The NPP also said; “As we congratulate the new King, we also take this opportunity to congratulate Jira, Sonyowura, the Kingmakers, the Jakpa palace, the gallant Youth led by Gonjaland Youth Association and the people of Gonjaland, for successfully carrying out such a sacred duty for our generation and posterity”.

  • Photos: Akufo-Addo at Yagbonwura’s funeral

    Photos: Akufo-Addo at Yagbonwura’s funeral

    On Sunday, February 26, President Akufo-Addo traveled to the Gonja Kingdom to partake in Yagbonwura Professor Tuntunba Boressah Jakpa I’s seventh-day funeral rites.

    Sam Abu Jinapor, the member of parliament for Damongo, and Justin Kodua Frimpong, the general secretary of the NPP, were among the dignitaries who accompanied the president.

    The Overlord of Gonja Sulemana Tuntunba Boressah Jakpa I passed on 5th February 2023 after a brief illness.

    Below are pictures from the event:

  • Third force needed to eliminate duopoly of NPP, NDC – Dr John Kwakye

    Third force needed to eliminate duopoly of NPP, NDC – Dr John Kwakye

    The Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) Dr John Kwakye has asserted that Ghana needs a vibrant third force to eliminate the duopoly of New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

    The NPP and the NDC have dominated political power since the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1992.

    Although other political parties such as the Convention Peoples Party(CCP), Peoples National Convention (PNC) Prphressive Peoples Party (PPP) and others have participated in elections in the Fourth Republic they have not been able to garner the needed votes to enable them to form a government.

    This has led the NPP and NDC to dominate the space at the presidential and parliamentary levels.

    In a tweet, Dr John Kwakye described the NPP and the NDC as incompetent parties in the management of the economy.

    He said “We need a third force in Ghanaian politics to uproot the incompetent NPP-NDC duopoly.”

    We need a third force in Ghanaian politics to uproot the incompetent NPP-NDC duopoly.

    — J. K. Kwakye (@JohnKwabenaKwa1) February 26, 2023

  • Bawumia responds to Alan Kyerematen’s campaign message in the northern region

    Bawumia responds to Alan Kyerematen’s campaign message in the northern region

    After carefully listening to Hon. Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen‘s interview on Radio Tamale on February 22, as part of his northern region tour, we have realized that, though he is a gentle and cool person, he has nothing to offer NPP supporters and Ghanaians at large should he be given the nod lead NPP as our flagbearer

    First of all, one can be supported and voted for to lead the party base on his consistent financial, intellectual or devoted time contribution toward the growth of the party especially from 2007 till date which he has no track record of.

    One can also be supported to lead the party considering his ability to empower or mentor people especially, taking into account the number of years he has been contesting. But according to his own response to a question he was asked by the host, Abdul Shakur Omae, to tell whether or not he has helped grown people, especially in the northern region, he was unable to mention a single person and therefore has no footprint on that as well

    Finally and ultimately, one can be supported to lead our party based on the message and clear vision he has for Ghanaians which can convince the floating voters to endorse the party to break the 8 come 2024 general elections. But as obvious, he already admitted that he has no campaign message for Ghanaians to break the 8 when he was addressing the Sefwi Wiaso Traditional Council as part of his campaign tour in the Western North Region by saying “The current economic crisis is making it difficult for NPP to craft campaign message” despite all the life-changing and flagship programs implemented by our current government

    The overview of that interview points out the fact that he has no message different from the usual mischief of his supporters that ‘it is a queue and it is his term’; ‘it is a tradition’ and or ‘he has suffered for the party’.

    But to analyze them logically, to those who say it is a ‘tradition’ and for that Hon. Alan Kyerematen is supposed to lead. I will like to remind them if they care to know, that NPP is based on 3 traditions (i.e Dankwah, Bussia and Dombo) of which we have H.E John Kufuor from Bussia tradition; H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo from Dankwah tradition and we are yet to have one from Dombo tradition to lead who is no one than H.E Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

    Therefore, from the angle of tradition, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is the best/next to lead.

    Again, to those who argue that ‘it is a queue’ and for that matter it is Hon. Alan Kyerematen’s turn, let me kindly bring to their understanding that he joined the so-called queue in the same year Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was appointed the running mate to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo but the difference is that whilst he was spending his time only on contesting, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was in the queue campaigning for the party to win elections. Hence, from the perspective of being in the queue for a long time, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia stands tall and is next/best to lead.

    Lastly on the argument that ‘he has suffered’ for the party more than all those bidding to lead NPP, let’s reflect back to the days when H.E Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was delivering economic lectures from one place to another which had made H.E John Dramani and NDC unpopular that masterminded John Dramani Mahama running as one term president which is unprecedented in the history of Ghana.

    Or have they forgotten the Almighty 2012 election petition during which Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was the only one to withstand the then pressure and defend the party in the supreme court?

    To recap, it is apparent that from all perspectives, H.E Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia remains the next and the best to lead and for that matter, we are edging all the sympathisers of NPP, precisely the delegates to remain firm in making sure that he (i.e Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia) leads the party as our next flagbearer to break the 8.

  • I have been with NDC since 2013- Ex GMA General Secretary

    I have been with NDC since 2013- Ex GMA General Secretary

    A former general secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr. Titus Beyuo, has said that he has been an official member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) since 2013.

    According to him, he started as a student politician and was part of student unions while at the University of Ghana. However, he remained neutral because of the leadership positions he held.

    “I became a card-bearing member of the NDC in 2013. Some NDC members, when they heard that I was standing on the ticket of the NDC were shocked because I was very hard on the NDC. But I needed to stay neutral because of the leadership roles I held. The only party card I have ever held is NDC,” he said on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem, Friday.

    Dr Beyuo disclosed this after he picked forms to contest in parliamentary primaries of the NDC in the Lambussie-Karni Constituency in the Upper West Region.

    He said the decision was taken after a prolonged period of introspection and extensive consultations with family, friends and critical stakeholders.

    “Arriving at this decision was an uphill task, but the support and encouragement received from my family, traditional leaders in the Lambussie Traditional Council, party leadership at the national, regional, constituency and branch levels, and friends during the consultative process, made this less difficult,” he stated.

    Dr Beyuo has, therefore, promised to wrestle power from the New Patriotic Party and contribute to the developmental agenda of the next NDC government for the people of Ghana and Lambussie.

  • National Cathedral: Respond to Ablakwa’s allegations with facts – NPP MP urges Kusi Boateng

    National Cathedral: Respond to Ablakwa’s allegations with facts – NPP MP urges Kusi Boateng

    Member of Parliament (MP) for Afigya Kwabre North, Collins Adomako-Mensah, has admonished the secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana, to tackle the allegations leveled against him by the North MP squarely.

    Mr Adomako-Mensah who criticised Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, over his handling of allegations raised against him by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, asked the former to present hard facts disputing the reports.

    Adomako-Mensah stated in a Good Morning Ghana interview on Wednesday, which GhanaWeb monitored, that the pastor has failed to provide any tangible explanation for allegations that he is operating a double identity.

    According to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP, Rev. Kusi Boateng’s failure to defend his identity and his attempts to stop Ablakwa from releasing more documents make it look like the accusations against him are true, which is making the North Tongu MP popular.

    “I think we are making Okudzeto extremely popular… one of the most easiest things to do in life is to defend the truth.

    “Why is all this thing happening? Okudzeto starts something about the Cathedral, he zooms in on a particular person. He says you have two names, if you don’t have two names just say it. What is difficult about that? He says you have two TIN numbers; no, I don’t have one. What is difficult about that?

    “The fact that you are not responding to him and giving contrary facts is what has brought us here. And what is happening now looks like you are trying to suppress the truth. Now, look at Okudzeto, he has become like some hero,” he said.

    Meanwhile, a High Court in Accra has adjourned the contempt hearing against the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, sine die.

    The court, on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, commenced the hearing of a contempt application filed against the MP by the secretary to the Board of Trustee of the National Cathedral of Ghana, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, for his handling of a restraining order document issued by a court in Accra.

    The MP was captured in a viral video throwing out a restraining order document from the secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, who is also known as Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.

    The High Court stated before adjourning the case that the Member of Parliament for North Tongue was not served with any contempt procedure as suggested.

    According to the judge, Charles Gyamfi Danquah, documents procured by Ablakwa from social media cannot be accepted as a legal writ from the court.

    “From the records before this court, the respondent has not been served with any contempt procedure, and the court has also not made any order for such a process. What learned counsel for the respondent procured either from social media or from learned counsel for the applicant cannot be taken as service of the contempt processes,” the sitting judge said.

    Background

    The latest corruption exposé on the National Cathedral by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, suggested impropriety on the part of the secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng.

    On January 16, 2023, the MP made some allegations against Rev. Kusi Boateng, who is the secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana.

    In an earlier revelation about the National Cathedral, Okudzeto Ablakwa said a whopping GH¢2.6 million was dished out to a company named JNS Talent Centre Limited.

    Further investigations into the alleged payment led to the discovery of one Kwabena Adu Gyamfi as a director of JNS Talent Centre.

    Having confirmed the identities of two out of three directors of the centre, Ablakwa dug deeper in a bid to discover the identity of the third director, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.

    According to his findings, citing a number of statutory documents, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi was the same as Reverend Kusi Boateng, who has allegedly been operating under the pseudonym Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.

  • Ofosu Kwakye rules out NPP in election 2024 over economic hardships

    Ofosu Kwakye rules out NPP in election 2024 over economic hardships

    An Aide to former President John Mahama says the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) do not stand a chance in winning the 2024 elections it criminally destroyed the national economy.

    According to Felix Kwakye Ofosu, his boss comes with a vision that will make reckless borrowing and mismanagement of the economy a thing of the past.

    Former President John Mahama announced his comeback bid after picking forms on Wednesday to contest the flagbearership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

    “Former President Mahama wants to restore this nation’s economy to health. The reckless borrowing, deliberate mismanagement and criminal ways of public resources will be a thing of the past.

    “NDC government will carry out far-reaching governance, political and economic reforms for it to be impossible for a government to destroy the country ever again at the extent the NPP has done,” he said.

    He added that former President Mahama will in the coming days engage Ghanaians on public platforms to spell out his new vision and his reason for a comeback.

    “But even before he does that, even a toddler knows that this NPP government, is simply not an option in this election and that the criminal destruction of our economy that Bawumia has supervised is sufficient reason to boot them out at the earliest opportunity come 2024.”

    Meanwhile, the Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah says the former President is indecisive and has nothing new to offer.

    “We’ve defeated the person twice so we are not afraid of Mahama. Those visions he had vanquished the economy. We won’t allow him to come and repeat it because he has nothing new,” he said.

    Source: Myjoyonline

  • Alan Kyerematen pledges to resuscitate economy

    Alan Kyerematen pledges to resuscitate economy

    A flagbearer hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Alan John Kyerematen has pledged to resuscitate Ghana’s ailing economy if given the nod as President.

    I will bring the economy back to life if I become president - Alan Kyerematen

    According to the former Trade Minister, the economic crisis the country is facing will be a thing of the past if the Ghanaina populace rallies their support behind him.

    “The current challenges that confront our economy will hopefully be a thing of the past. I want to assure you that if through your blessings and prayers, your own son becomes the leader of our party and subsequently the President of this country, I will bring the economy back to life. It will not be through my effort but by the grace and mercy of Allah”, he said.

    I will bring the economy back to life if I become president - Alan Kyerematen

    Speaking during his tour of the Northern Region, Mr Kyerematen said NPP initiated a lot of social intervention programmes but fears a non-NPP government will discontinue all of them if they win the 2024 general elections.

    He said it is the reason why it is crucial for the NPP to break the eight.

    I will bring the economy back to life if I become president - Alan Kyerematen

    “The President has introduced many important interventions in this country. We have introduced the Free SHS policy, the One District, One Factory Policy (1D1F), Planting for Food and Jobs and many others. Your Majesty, it will be a tragedy of history if the NPP is unable to continue in government. All these important initiatives will be discontinued if another government takes over”, he stressed.

    The flagbearer hopeful continued to say “it’s therefore, our wish that for the first time in the history of our country that the NPP can continue after eight years in office so that all of these laudable programmes will be sustained”.

    Source: Myjoyonline

  • Ghanaians will favor a hobbling elephant over a dead goat – Owusu Bempah

    Ghanaians will favor a hobbling elephant over a dead goat – Owusu Bempah

    The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) deputy director of communications, Ernest Owusu Bempah, claims that the NPP is unconcerned by former President John Dramani Mahama’s plan to run for president.

    He was hopeful that Ghanaians “will not choose a dead goat over a limping elephant,” in the upcoming general elections.

    Mr. Bempah said the 2024 elections will be based on track record which Ghanaians can easily attest to the hardships and mess they went through under Mr. Mahama’s tenure and reject him on that score.

    He said persons, especially young people with financial difficulties couldn’t go to school during Mahama’s administration but president Akufo-Addo’s government has made free SHS a reality and has so far catered for some five million students.

    Reacting to Mahama’s decision to run for president in the 2024 elections, Mr Owusu Bempah told journalists that “we all know our political history, what has Mahama got to offer the people of Ghana? As Vice President, as a caretaker president and the sitting president, for six years, he ran the economy like a casino economy. His key legacy was dumsor which was a nightmare for every Ghanaian. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost.”

    He said the Mahama administration was so bad at managing the economy that the “economy was on its knees when there was no global crisis”.

    “We handed over an economy that had discovered oil in commercial quantity, GDP was about 14 percent when we were leaving power but when Mahama took over before 2012, GDP dropped to 3.5 percent, that tells how he ran the economy down. This is the economy that NDC left, with abysmal performance in all sectors,” Mr. Bempah further lamented the damage done by Mahama’s administration.

    Mr. Bempah also intimated that the mess caused by John Mahama was so widespread that the suffering it brought was cross-sectoral.

    “The ordinary barber, the hairdresser, the trotro driver suffered. We were not in a pandemic, yet this was the growth, it was terrible under NDC. In 2013 depreciation of the Cedi was 14.5 percent, in 2014 it was 31.3 percent depreciation. We are talking about the dead goat. Most of the Ghanaian industry collapsed under NDC regime, from PNDC to Mahama NDC, so I am daring them to come and tell us that it is not right.

    “In the banking sector, the interest rate was about 35 to 40 percent under Mahama, high cost of borrowing, there was no crisis, and corruption was the order of the day. Mahama institutionalized corruption in this country, they made corruption part of our body politics, to the extent that the leader himself was part, such as Kanazoe fiasco, Airbus scandal, Isofotone. A company cited by Bloomberg and New York Times as one of the most corrupt companies in the world was awarded the $280 million contract to build the circle interchange.”

    He therefore advised Ghanaians to be wise because “Mahama is coming for just four years” and “what will he do in four years that he couldn’t have done in his six years as president?”

  • I am more qualified to serve as the NPP’s flagbearer – Kwabena Agyepong

    I am more qualified to serve as the NPP’s flagbearer – Kwabena Agyepong

    Mr. Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, a flagbearer candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), is optimistic about his chances of being chosen to stand in for the ruling party in the 2024 presidential elections.

    Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday, Mr. Agyepong said his message resonates “very strongly with Ghanaians.”

    “I am the one who is known better in the party, my roots are deeper in this party than most. And I am very confident of what I am doing.”

    He, however, admitted that the journey won’t be a walk in the park, and is willing to give it his best shot.

    ” Of course, we don’t take anything for granted in this elation. I respect the sanctity of our electoral system and I do believe that Ghanaians will not mortgage their future. They will listen to us, evaluate us and will be able to make a choice.”

    The former Press Secretary of former President John Kufuor added that Ghana is better off having some ministries consolidated.

    He said not only will this be economical but will go a long way to send a strong moral message to Ghanaians that leadership is indeed tightening its belt and is serious about working towards attaining economic recovery.

    “Ghana’s government is too big, and I have said this a long time ago, I think it has become a bit more fashionable for other people to say. As far back as 2015 when I was General Secretary of the NPP, I said that the framers of the constitution did not put in the 19 limits for cabinet ministers for nothing, they were giving us an idea of the size of government.”

  • Integrate some ministries and dissolve others – Kwabena Agyepong to gov’t

    Integrate some ministries and dissolve others – Kwabena Agyepong to gov’t

    A flagbearer candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, has said that it would be better for Ghana if some ministries were consolidated.

    The former General Secretary of the NPP, in an interview with Bernard Avle on the Citi Breakfast Show, said not only will this be economical but will go a long way to send a strong moral message to Ghanaians that leadership is indeed tightening its belt and is serious about working towards attaining economic recovery.

    “Ghana’s government is too big, and I have said this a long time ago, I think it has become a bit more fashionable for other people to say. As far back as 2015 when I was General Secretary of the NPP, I said that the framers of the constitution did not put in the 19 limits for cabinet ministers for nothing, they were giving us an idea of the size of government.”

    “When I become President, I will not exceed this limit. A lot of the ministries have to be consolidated to reduce the numbers. There are others I think should not exist in the first place, Parliamentary Affairs, and even Chieftaincy used to be a secretariat at the Presidency.

    “I think the natural home of Youth and Sport is Education, Transport should have Aviation and Railways. We can isolate Roads and Highways because of their central role in the development of the country. Fisheries should be a department under Agriculture.”

    He also said Ministries do not need more than one deputy.

    “The President even has just a vice. So, 38 ministers, if we add the 16 regional ministers, we have 54 ministers. This is something any President should be able to work with.”

  • Silence on my unlawful suspension aided NPP in 2016 elections – Kwabena Agyepong

    Silence on my unlawful suspension aided NPP in 2016 elections – Kwabena Agyepong

    Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) General Secretary Kwabena Agyei Agyepong has revealed that he purposefully chose not to publicly address his 2015 suspension from the party in order to protect the NPP’s chances in the general elections of 2016.

    He described the suspension as illegitimate and unfortunate which had the potential to mar the party’s fortunes in the 2016 elections adding that his silence at the time largely cemented the gains of the party prior to his suspension.

    Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday, February 23, Mr Agyepong said “we all know what happened in 2015 with my illegitimate and unfortunate suspension from office as General Secretary and I chose not to speak at the time not because I endorsed what happened but because of my love for this party and also because we had done all the groundwork with our internal arrangements and successful campaigns across the constituencies with just five constituencies left to cover.”

    The former Press Secretary of former President John Kufuor stressed that he wasn’t hurt by the party’s disregard for its constitutional provisions but was hurt by the lies that were spewed just to legitimize the illegitimate decision of the party’s leadership.

    “The fact that there was a lack of adherence to our party’s constitution is what hurts. What hurt me was the dirty propaganda and things that were said about me when they were clearly not true and this gave me the opportunity to speak to the party people who love me and had voted for me massively and trusted me and so I had to go round and explain to them what had happened because I didn’t want to endanger our victory in 2016.”

    “When you’re a General Secretary, you’re a full-time employee of the party and you’re not expected to do anything other than dedicating all your time to the party,” he added.

  • Meet Charles Asiedu, Asiedu Nketiah’s son eyeing Tano South parliamentary seat

    Meet Charles Asiedu, Asiedu Nketiah’s son eyeing Tano South parliamentary seat

    A number of young people on both sides of the political divide, that is in the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) are eyeing seats in the legislature come 2024.

    The hurdle at this stage is to scale the party primaries before they go into real battle come December 2024 to secure a seat in Parliament.

    One such aspiring lawmaker is Charles Asiedu.

    On a good day, he will pass off as another young activist in the NDC who is seeking to replace the retiring MPs and or one seeking to wrestle a seat from the NPP for his party.

    Charles it so happens is the son of the National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah.

    Who is Charles Asiedu?

    a. Charles only recently declared his intention to contest in the party’s Tano South parliamentary primaries.

    b. He is a former organizer of the party in the Ahafo Region

    c. He is seeking to replace Hannah Bissue (current Women’s Organizer) who has been NDC’s candidate in the constituency since 2012, winning it once.

    d. Charles will come up against four other contenders according to information available to GhanaWeb.

    e. Prior to his regional organizer position, Charles served as two-term branch organizer before becoming a deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Organizer.

    f. He has a close relationship with Dr Hanna Bissiw’s serving as her campaign manager for the successful National Women’s Organizer bids in 2018 and 2022.

    Charles (arrowed) joined by Hanna Bissiw and other NDC activists during a protest in Techiman

    g. Charles holds a Master of Arts Degree in Organizational Leadership and Governance from the University of Ghana Business school. He is also a product of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ).

    h. He has a certificate in Political Leadership and Party Organisation from the NDC’s Ghana Institute of Social Democracy (GISD).

    i. Charles Asiedu’s areas of expertise are communication, political marketing and branding, research, governance, strategic planning and human resource development.

    In an interview with Accra-based myxyzonline.com, the youth activist said “I am always here with the people and they know me to be a vibrant party person who has served them in different capacities.”

    Whether he scales the party primaries and makes it past the December 7, 2024 post, like they say, time will tell.

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • NPP Flagbearership: Ya-Na debunks reports of endorsing Alan

    NPP Flagbearership: Ya-Na debunks reports of endorsing Alan

    The King of Dagbon, Ya-Na Abukari II says media reports claiming he has endorsed Alan Kyerematen’s NPP flagbearership bid are false.

    The former Trade Minister, who has resigned from government to pursue his flagbearership ambition, called on the King of Dagbon on Monday, and after the visit, some selected newspapers published that the Ya-Na had told Alan Kyerematen that it was Alan’s time to lead the NPP as flagbearer. 

    The King of Dagbon has categorically issued a disclaimer stating the reports are falsehood. 

    A press statement signed by the Secretary to the Ya-Na, rejected the concocted reports and affirmed the Ya-Na’s openness to the public.

    “The attention of the Gbewaa Palace has been drawn to reports in various newspapers regarding the courtesy visit by the Hon Alan Kyerematen on His Majesty Ndan Ya-Na Abukari II. In particular, the reports suggest that His Royal Majesty had declared that it was the turn of Hon. Alan Kyerematen to lead the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) as a flagbearer,” the statement read. 


    “His Majesty wishes to state categorically that he made no such claim,” the release stated, adding, “I have not endorsed Hon. Alan Kyerematen and wish to state categorically that the doors of my Palace are open for all”, it added. 

    Source: Ghanaweb

  • NPP supports Atsu’s family with GH₵10k for funeral

    NPP supports Atsu’s family with GH₵10k for funeral

    To assist the family of the late Christian Atsu’s family, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) leadership has donated GH10,000 in cash.

    General Secretary of the NPP, Justin Kodua, alongside National Organiser of the party, Henry Nana Boakye, Nasara coordinator, Aziz Haruna Futah and other officials commiserated with the family of the late footballer.

    The remains of former Ghana international footballer Christian Atsu who died in a devastating earthquake in Turkey arrived on Sunday.

    Atsu, 31, was caught up in a 7.8-magnitude quake that rocked Turkey and Syria on February 6, killing more than 44,000 people in both countries.

    Meanwhile, former Black Stars Captain, Stephen Appiah led a host of his national team players to visit the grieving Atsu family.

    Ghana players, Rabiu Mohammed, Jerry Akaminko, Kwadwo Asamoah, Derek Boateng and actress, Lydia Forson were all in attendance.

    Others include the Uncle of Stephen Appiah, Nii Kwadwo Appiah (Father of Jamestown Stool) and wife of Appiah, Hannah Bentil.

    Earlier, ex-Black Stars coach, CK Akonnor paid his respect to the Atsu family.

  • Ashanti Region wants Bawumia as NPP flagbearer – Dr Afriyie

    Ashanti Region wants Bawumia as NPP flagbearer – Dr Afriyie

    MP for Ashanti Region’s Effiduase Asokore Constituency, Dr. Nana Ayew Afriyie is optimisitc that Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia would become the NPP’s standard bearer (NPP).

    He claimed that the Vice President is supported by the Ashanti Region, the party’s heartland.

    He claims that Dr. Bawumia has significantly superior talents and competencies as compared to other candidates running for vice president.

    “Ashanti region has gone for Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia. And most times if you realize, when a whole region moves towards a particular direction, then it means that their decisions are solely based on what the grassroots are saying.

    “So, I’m not surprised that Mahamudu Bawumia has won the primaries already. It’s my humble opinion and is based on history. To the extent that Ashanti MPs determine the president, and since there hasn’t been any change, Mahamudu Bawumia has won the election.

    Dr Ayew Afriyie

    “When you go to parliament, majority of the MPs, when you take out about 18 out of the 128 that I have circled out, about 108 is green for him,” he said.

    Touching on the Ashanti region’s relevance and role in electing Bawumia as flagbearer, the Effiduase Asokore legislator stated, “Adu Boahen won the Ashanti region and went on to win the national election. Kufuor won support from the Ashanti region before winning the national election…he got the majority of MPs and support from the Ashanti region and we went on to win. Akufo-Addo got MPs and Ashanti region support and went on to win the elections.”

    The lawmaker continued by saying that the majority of NPP lawmakers from the Ashanti region and almost all NPP MPs had thrown their support behind the vice president.

    Source: Pulse.com

  • Minority directed to boycott approval of new Ministerial appointees

    Minority directed to boycott approval of new Ministerial appointees

    Members of Parliament on the Minority side have been directed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to boycott and disapprove the new ministers appointed by President Akufo-Addo.

    In a press release dated February 19, the party explained that this is to help push for the reduction in the size of the current government.

    The NDC stated that, the party together with other civil society organisations have on numerous occasions expressed concern over government’s size but the President has yet to act on the calls for a reduction.

    “The leadership of the NDC, has, against this backdrop, directed the Minority caucus in Parliament not to approve any of the new ministerial nominees and to further push for a reduction in the size of government with a view to reducing the needless drain on scarce public resources.”

    Akufo-Addo reshuffles ministers
    Stephen Amoah, K.T. Hammond and Brian Acheampong

    “In this moment of haircuts, the most important thing the government can do is to do a “governmental haircut”. Our directive to the Minority in Parliament, we believe strongly aligns with the genuine sentiments of most Ghanaians. Enough is enough,” parts of the statement read.

    This comes after President Akufo-Addo made changes to his government on February 7. He appointed new persons while other ministers have been reshuffled to other ministries.

    Akufo-Addo reshuffles ministers
    Asamoah Boateng, Mohammed Amin Adam, Hebert Krapah and O.B Amoah

    These ministers are expected to appear before Parliament on Monday, February 20, for vetting.

    Below is the list of ministers appointed

    1. Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, K.T Hammond has been appointed Minister-designate for Trade and Industry.

    2. Member of Parliament for Abetifi, Brian Acheampong has been appointed Minister-designate for Food and Agriculture.

    3. Member of Parliament for Karaga, Mohammed Amin Adam, who was stationed at the Energy Ministry as deputy Minister has been given a new post.

    He has been appointed Minister of State at the Finance Ministry. He is set to replace Charles Adu Boahen.

    4. Stephen Asamoah Boateng has been appointed Minister-designate for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs.

    5. Herbert Krapah, who was Deputy Minister at the Trade Ministry has been moved to the Energy Ministry as Deputy Minister-designate. He replaces Mohammed Amin Adam.

    6. Meanwhile, Dr Stephen Amoah is now Deputy Minister-designate for Trade and Industry to replace Herbert Krapah.

    7. Member of Parliament for Akuapem South, Osei Bonsu Amoah, has been appointed Minister of State at the Local Government and Rural Development Ministry.

    Source: Myjoyonline

  • Economic challenges: NDC has nothing to offer – Deputy Communications Director for NPP

    Economic challenges: NDC has nothing to offer – Deputy Communications Director for NPP

    Ernest Owusu Bempah, the NPP’s deputy director of communications, has alleged that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of planning to utilize staged negative media to undermine the popularity of the administration.

    He said the main opposition party has no alternative solutions to the challenges current economic facing Ghanaians.

    Speaking to journalists in Accra on Thursday, February 16, he said “All indications depict the fact that they are on a mission to make this government very unpopular. A strategy that is very diabolical,  they are not seeking the interest of Ghanaians.

    “Have you heard the NDC talk about alternative solutions, viable alternative solutions for this country’s economic situation we find ourselves in? No. When NPP was in opposition, by this time we have policy plans like free SHS,  we said we were going to stop dunsor.

    “NDC doesn’t have solutions like that. All that they think about is to sit down and allegedly stoke fire in Bawku enskinment just to make the government unpopular, hide behind people to go about picketing because there’s a bond issue or to hide behind the young youth organizer to come and stoke fire and saying dangerous things which will destroy the fine democracy that Ghana is bequeathed with.

    “The agenda of the new leadership of the NDC is just to set an agenda of hatchet orchestrated plan to make the government unpopular, when Ghanaians become dissatisfied with bad news about this government then it means NDC is an alternative, that is what they are thinking but they got it wrong.

  • 2024 elections: Mahama is a big threat to NPP – Subin MP

    2024 elections: Mahama is a big threat to NPP – Subin MP

    A member of parliament representing the Subin Constituency, Eungen Boakye Antwi, has issued a warning to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).

    According to him, failure for the party to work more in order to recover the faltering economy will make it exceedingly difficult for the party to win the general elections in 2024.

    “Posterity will judge us, we said it and may be the president didn’t listen or we said something but, in the end, the economy was turned around.

    “… but because of how things are going. We’re not in good standing, look at the bond issues and all the things that are going on. We’re not in good standing at all.

    “Should we tell them or blow them? How we’re running the economy, if we continue like that, will it go well for us in 2024? You don’t need Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu or Eugene Boakye to come and talk to you.

    “You’re a Ghanaian, how things are going, if we continue this way, will it help us? No, so if someone is an NPP person and does not understand this philosophy then maybe the person has his/her personal opinion,” he said.

  • 102 MPs endorse Bawumia ahead of NPP presidential race

    102 MPs endorse Bawumia ahead of NPP presidential race

    Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has received overwhelming support of more than two-thirds of the NPP’s Majority Caucus members in Parliament, positioning him to lead the party into the general elections in 2024.

    According to data compiled by DAILY GUIDE, more than 102 of the NPP’s 138 MPs firmly believed that Dr. Bawumia should succeed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo if the party is to end the eight-year curse of having only one party in power since the Second Republic’s founding.

    MP for Sefwi Akotombra and a former Deputy Minister of Western North, Alex Tetteh Djornobuah, made the audacious disclosure in an interview on Accra-based Peace FM while commenting on a survey report which put Dr. Bawumia far ahead of his other competitors in the NPP presidential race.

    The Alan Kyerematen camp has already rubbished the poll results which gave the Vice President overwhelming lead, in all the 16 regions of the country.

    According to Mr. Djornobuah, the Vice President possesses all the qualities to lead the party to set a new record by breaking the eight-year cycle of two consecutive political terms of parties in the country’s political history.

    “This survey conducted is correct because the Vice President has been endorsed by 102 MPs so far. The MPs believe that Dr. Bawumia is the best bet to lead the party, and I have no doubt in my mind that he will emerge victorious,” he said.

    The Sefwi Akontombra MP dropped a hint that all the MPs canvassing support for the Vice President will soon come forward to unveil the cloak of anonymity for the public to know and recognise them.

    “We’ll be addressing a press conference to declare our support as MPs for the Vice President very soon. Dr. Bawumia is a Vice President who has shown majority and capability that he is the only person who can lead the NPP to break the eight,” he disclosed.

    Touching on the delegates, Mr. Djornobuah mentioned that about 80 per cent of the delegates would vote for the Vice President.

    “I know and believe that Western North, we’ll not disappoint the Vice President because it is time for us to reciprocate what he has done for us. And if we want more of such development then we need to vote for the Vice President,” he added.

    The lawmaker pointed out that Dr. Bawumia is the right person to battle former President John Dramani Mahama in the Northern regions, adding that “with the support of our strongholds in Ashanti, Eastern and other regions, we can break the eight.”

    He mentioned that the ruling NPP government has done marvelously well considering the challenges confronting nations across the world as a result of COVID-19 pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, yet the government is still embarking on infrastructure development, sustaining social intervention programmes such as Free Senior High School (FSHS), One District One Factory (1D1F) among others without Ghanaians experiencing power crisis unlike under the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC).

    He, however, admitted that the NPP has made some mistakes in terms of governance, but was quick to add that Ghanaians are safer under NPP than NDC in terms of hardship.

    The declaration is coming after about 40 of the MPs and the NPP General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, accompanied the Vice President to the funeral of Lepowura Alhaji Mohammed Nuru-Deen Jawula, who was a stalwart of the party.

    Vice President Bawumia and his entourage rode in a bus for about two hours from Tamale to Salaga in the Savannah Region to attend the solemn ceremony.

    One of the MPs, Kofi Okyere-Agyekum, representing the people of Fanteakwa South in the Eastern Region confirmed that more than 100 of their colleagues fully endorse the Vice President to lead the party to victory in the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.

    “We believe that it is Dr. Bawumia who can lead NPP to ‘break the 8’ in 2024. He is a gentleman, very intelligent and a highly competent personality who will be loved and supported by NPP faithful for us to retain power in 2024,” Mr. Okyere-Agyekum, who is a Ranking Member on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament told the media.

    The governing NPP is working tirelessly to be maintained in power for more than eight years to break the jinx of successive political parties winning and losing elections after eight years.

    At least eight NPP stalwarts have so far declared their intentions to contest in the governing party’s presidential primaries, which will be held hopefully before the end of the year.

  • Banking Sector cleanup: Kofi Amoabeng clears Ofori-Atta of any blame

    Banking Sector cleanup: Kofi Amoabeng clears Ofori-Atta of any blame

    Former Chief Executive Officer of the defunct UT Bank, Prince Kofi Amoabeng has spoken about what led to the collapse of his bank; the UT Banks, some 6 years after its collapse.

    The UT Bank was one of many affected during the New Patriotic Party (NPP)’s banking sector cleanup, leading to the collapse of the bank.

    Many blamed the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta for spearheading the cleanup exercise, leading to the loss of jobs by many.

    Speaking in an interview on GTV’s Breakfast show however, Mr. Amoabeng said that Ken Ofori-Atta cannot be blamed for the banking sector cleanup that led to the collapse of his company.

    According to him, Ghanaians were the ones who voted for the then government, and the decision was a collective one on the part of government therefore Ghanaians should be the ones to blame.

    “When the UT bank went down, or the government collapsed the bank, people came to me and said, [so, your friend is Ken Ofori-Atta and he took your bank] and I said ‘no’.

    He was presented with facts and documents and arguments for him to make a decision and that decision I hope, he did in the best interest of Ghanaians even though I doubt it, but because of what information they had given to him.

    “I said listen, it is not Ken Ofori-Atta who I refer to as my brother who collapsed the bank, it is Ghanaians who collapsed that bank, because Ghanaians chose the government. Ghanaians chose the government that collapsed the bank and I cannot hate all Ghanaians because I’m a Ghanaian myself. We voted for government, the government came and made a decision,” he added.

    He said this while explaining his ideals in life that push him to forgive and pray for persons who may hate him. Mr. Amoabeng noted that he on the contrary hates no one because he is not necessarily privy to the reasons they take actions that they do and what informs certain decisions.

    “I don’t even think about it because I don’t know what is behind whatever actions they take,” he stated.

    Source: Ghanaweb